Tuesday, June 16, 2015

This Super Dad Needs A Break! #BreakYouMake with Chobani

Happy Tuesday friends!Can you believe it is the middle of June already, and the first day of (official) summer is on Sunday?!I hope you are enjoying this wonderful first month of summer. I am definitely loving the kiddos being out of school, and life slowing down a tiny bit. I am enjoying every single day, and also looking forward to all the joys that summer has to bring: concerts in the park, beach time, BBQ's, vacation and running again! Hip, Hip, Hooray!!

Our three Musketeers at the beach on Monday.

Our family has had a lot of changes and adjustments these last couple of months. If you have been following along on the blog, you'll know that I had major knee surgery in the middle of April. The surgery was a success, and I was so blessed and thankful to have it. The surgical procedure meant that I would be able to run again! It also meant that I would be down and unable to do most of the responsibilities that a stay at home Mom does: driving my kiddos to school, and all of their activities, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning up after little ones, changing diapers, taking them to the park, running around with them, and the list goes on. The first six weeks was a huge adjustment, as the first week and half I was in a lot of pain and not moving around much at all. I was also attached to a CPM machine for 8 hours a day to keep my knee moving. In the weeks that followed, I was up and moving but not doing a whole lot. I wasn't able to put any weight on my right knee and was bound to my crutches at all times.My family has been an AMAZING help to me, and I am so grateful for their love and support (thank you Mom and Dad!). I have to say, the person who has always been there to pick up the slack and basically become a single parent of three small children, is my husband Jerold.Jerold definitely knows the role of a semi single parent well. I was on bed rest (due to complications from preeclampsia) with each of our three babies, and each of them were born pretty early.Jerold knows what it's like to juggle a full day of work, (and take meetings from home while caring for a toddler!) and then coming home to a full load of responsibilities (cook dinner! bathe the baby, a load of laundry please!).He has always done it with a smile in his heart and a gracious, loving attitude...

Dec. 2012, the month before I had SBG

And when we had our third and last baby (SBG - sweet baby girl), we each sighed with happiness and relief that the hard part was over. Little did we know...I was able to get back to training and running marathons again and there he was, right by my side. Always the cheerleader, always encouraging me to go catch my goals and dreams.One marathon down, post third baby and BOOM...It went a little downhill. Okay, a lot.Marathon in September 2014 (yay for a BQ!), knee pain shortly thereafter. October - December, lots of doctor visits. December - end of January, a six week break from running. Those six weeks, praying and hoping my knee would heal and I could run the Boston Marathon. But that was not the plan for me. April 16th I had knee surgery to replace a piece of torn cartilage and repair an osteochondral defect.

When Chobani yogurt challenged me to write a post on someone in my life who needs a break for their #BreakYouMake campaign, it took me zero seconds to make a decision.Of course it would be Jerold!! If anyone needs a (major) break, he definitely does! :)It is Jerold who does the grocery shopping on the way home from work...

Seriously, this is how they look everyday when he comes home from work!

And as much as the kiddos love story time with me, there is nothing like Daddy... especially when they are eating Chobani Flip Greek Yogurt as an after dinner snack!! They are now obsessed with it! :)I love the fact that it satisfies them, without the need for a big dessert (not that we do that too much anyway :)I love that Chobani makes greek yogurt, which is really good for you, and as a runner, greek yogurt is a go-to snack for me!Chobani yogurt has zero GMO ingredients, no artificial sweeteners or flavors and it is made with milk from cows not treated with hormones like rBST.This makes me happy and it tastes really GOOD!

It's been Jerold who has to watch like a hawk over our kids at the beach (and swim with them!). He is also the one who has to CARRY me to the sand, as that is still a little too much for my knee, but I am getting stronger!

Their happy place.

He is there when someone has a tummy ache...

...And Jerold is there for plenty of fun times - playing and eating!! In this moment, he just wanted to sit for a minute and have a cup of Chobani Flip Yogurt. The Salted Caramel Crunch is our favorite so far... (ha ha, not going to happen while the kids are around!)

I am on my way back to 100%! In the beginning of July I will finally be able to put full weight on my knee and ditch the crutches! When that happens, what I want to do more than anything (except run - but that will happen mid July!) is to send Jerold away for a couple of days, all by himself. Just to gaze at an amazing sunset, uninterrupted...

Time for him to run again and get back on his bike, which he loves to do! Honey, thank you for all that you do every single day! Cheers to you getting a HUGE break!!

Who do you know that deserves a break?

Happiness Is Running Life!

xo,

Natalie

A representative from Chobani reached out to me to write this post. All opinions are my own and I as was not compensated in any way.